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> Assange is a Russian asset Do you have anything concrete to back that up? Wikileaks has been foolhardedly devoted to exposing uncomfortable truths about ins

> Assange is a Russian asset Do you have anything concrete to back that up? Wikileaks has been foolhardedly devoted to exposing uncomfortable truths about institutions across the political spectrum. Some people are maybe upset that this probably lead to Trump's election. > who convinced people to ignore a woman’s story of sexual assault The preliminary investigation into that case has been dropped. As far as I'm aware, he made no effort to convince people to ignore the story, but he did strongly deny the allegations. This says nothing either way of his innocence or criminality. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assange_v_Swedish_Prosecution_Authority https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assange_v_Swedish_Prosecution_... Edit: RE: Anyone questioning Assange's ties to Russia, there's the following article. Assange was purportedly contacted about a pardon in 2017 in exchange for denying Russian involvement into leaking Clinton's emails (which Julian declined) > Lawyers representing the United States at Julian Assange’s extradition trial in Britain have accepted the claim that the WikiLeaks founder was offered a presidential pardon by a congressman on the condition that he would help cover up Russia’s involvement in hacking emails from the Democratic National Committee. Coverage about that here: https://www.thedailybeast.com/us-admits-that-putins-favorite-congressman-offered-pardon-to-assange-if-he-covered-up-russia-links https://www.thedailybeast.com/us-admits-that-putins-favorite...

coffeecat 6y ago
> Do you have anything concrete to back that up? No evidence is needed, as it's not a concrete claim. In modern US political parlance, the term "Russian asset" is a spooky-sounding but otherwise meaningless term. It's a cheap-but-effective rhetorical trick for discrediting someone.
- h0l0cube 6y ago
  I like the idea that someone can't just say a thing on HN that has no known basis and make it a justification for their argument. Instead, here, any counter claim that Assange is decent, or was guided by good intentions, attracts instant downvotes without any counter argument or reflection whatsoever, but the notion that he's some deep state operative is perfectly reasonable. I agree though with the implication that he isn't an American patriot. Clearly he's Australian/Swedish
  - 93po 6y ago
    There's a massive anti-Assange PR campaign everywhere on the internet and even people on HN are susceptible to it. I mean the guy didn't scoop his cat's litter box, what an awful man

coffeecat 6y ago

> Do you have anything concrete to back that up? No evidence is needed, as it's not a concrete claim. In modern US political parlance, the term "Russian asset" is a spooky-sounding but otherwise meaningless term. It's a cheap-but-effective rhetorical trick for discrediting someone.

h0l0cube 6y ago
I like the idea that someone can't just say a thing on HN that has no known basis and make it a justification for their argument. Instead, here, any counter claim that Assange is decent, or was guided by good intentions, attracts instant downvotes without any counter argument or reflection whatsoever, but the notion that he's some deep state operative is perfectly reasonable. I agree though with the implication that he isn't an American patriot. Clearly he's Australian/Swedish
- 93po 6y ago
  There's a massive anti-Assange PR campaign everywhere on the internet and even people on HN are susceptible to it. I mean the guy didn't scoop his cat's litter box, what an awful man